FORME Mobiles to come with 20 new handsets; to invest Rs 55-60 crores in India by 2019

TT Correspondent | | 12 Apr 2018

Having launched more than 10 handsets in 2010, FORME Mobiles will come up with 15 feature phone models and 5 budget smartphone models in the next 6 months. The company is investing Rs 20 crores initially and expecting to increase its investment to Rs 40 crores by 2019.

After selling 7 to 8 crore mobile phones since 2010, the handset-maker is targeting revenue of Rs 200 crore by the end of 2018 while planning to sell more than 1.2 crore units in 2018, and expecting 50% growth in this fiscal year.

Till now, the company has been assembling the products in India while outsourcing battery, chargers and chipsets. But from this year it will be manufacturing all the products in India and will be investing 2 million USD (Rs 13.03 crore approx) for the same and will be shifting from SKD to CKD manufacturing.

The company set up its own assembling factory in Gurgaon in 2015 which has a total area of 45000 sq feet with 16 lines working at a time and a production capacity of over 4-5 lakhs mobile phones in a month. Besides India factory, FORME also has a factory in China.

“Currently, our India factory employs more than 500 workers and has more than 50% women workers associated with the brand. Because we aim to produce 10 lakh units a month now, these numbers will go up drastically in short period of time,” Victor Su, Director, FORME Mobiles India told ET.

In the feature phone segment, FORME Mobiles is targeting to gain a market share of 6-10% by 2019 where its current market share is 4%. The device maker is also involved in R&D, designing and manufacturing of wearables and accessories such as fitness bands, power banks and etc and is planning to start accessories segment in Indian market soon.

Talking about the response of previously launched phones, Su said, “We have received an overwhelming response from Indian market for our phones and on an average we have witnessed 40% year-on-year growth. India is a very important market that contributes significantly to our global revenue.”

The company is also in talks with telecom companies for partnerships or tie-ups for its 4G feature phones. FORME has adopted the offline distribution strategy so as to be able to target rural users as well.